Okay, so we have a president who believes he is above the law, that he could murder James Comey in the Oval Office and it would be okay, that whatever he does is legal because he is THE LAW. Okay, so he knows nothing about the Divine Right of Kings, and thinks he is one. Okay, so he doesn’t know that the American Revolution came about because the colonists didn’t want to be ruled by a Mad King. True, he never read the Constitution.
But don’t give up hope!
Here is Robert Kuttner of The American Prospect. You too can share their wisdom for free by signing up here.
Kuttner on TAP
2018: The Case for Optimism. So let’s review the bidding. The investigative waters keep rising around Trump. The bill guaranteeing the safety of the special counsel won’t pass, but the support of four senior Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sends Trump a warning—seven if Trump were to stage a Saturday Night Massacre. Too much information is now with the U.S. attorney in New York. And firing Mueller would lead directly to impeachment.
Issues that looked like winners for Trump are turning blurry at best. China is pushing back against Trump’s hard line, and efforts by even hawkish trade officials to get back on the same side with the EU (whose support we need against China) are running up against Trump’s stupidly uninformed cold shoulder to Germany and his insistence that tariffs apply to Europe. Korea, despite early euphoria, will be far from an easy win for Trump, since at best we are in for a period of protracted diplomacy and a deal is still a long shot.
Republicans continue to look worse and worse for the November midterms. Speaker Paul Ryan’s unforced error in firing the House chaplain alienates Catholic Republican voters and divides his own caucus. The pitiful mess with former White House physician and failed VA nominee Ronny Jackson creates yet another wedge between Trump and his party’s nervous supporters in Congress. Trump’s personal unpopularity spills over onto his Republican enablers.
And despite the Republican penchant for trying to rig or steal elections, please note that the six special elections for vacant House seats since Trump’s election went off more or less as normal.
A Democratic pickup of at least 50 seats in the House seems likely, and the Senate is now seriously in play as well. In Tennessee, polls show the popular Democrat, Phil Bredesen, leading the widely detested far-right Republican and likely nominee, Marsha Blackburn. Even Republican Bob Corker, who is retiring from the Senate seat, backs Bredesen.
Lots could happen between now and November, of course, but none of it is likely to be good for Trump and the GOP. Even a good economy is not translating into support for the incumbent party.
I know, I know, it’s risky to count chickens before they hatch. But with all the gloomy news, there are actually many things to celebrate—things that keep hope alive. ~ ROBERT KUTTNER
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is not that I am pessimistic….but…..in Missouri, we do not even have a democrat party. My senator McCaskill, is going to lose by more than ten percent to a republican nothing burger.There are a lot of states which do have a democrat party, and they might make up for the losses in Missouri. I am not sure whether it will be enough to prevent king Trump from appointing another judge or two to the supreme court.
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It seems to me that Democrats have strong case for why they are who they are, but we need people to tell this story well and clearly. If we let Fox News be the sole Bureau of Adult Education, we’re never gonna win. Dems should train brigades of latter-day Jesuits to go door-to-door preaching their liberal brand of Americanism with beautiful and lucid graphics to aid the telling. Make people want to be with us. There needs to be an element of beauty and the spiritual (I think politics IS spiritual). We’ve got a better product than the Mormons. Their missionaries are managing to gain adherents; we should be able to gain many more.
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I don’t get my news from Fox and I still don’t know what it is that the Democrats offer, besides, “We’re not Trump so you’d better send us a lot of money.” Rarely do I hear from Democratic candidates what they’re for, only that Trump is bad, bad, bad (but then the designated villains (McCaskill among them) dutifully vote for Trump’s appointees and policies). If the Democrats have a “better product”, I’m dying to learn about it. Literally, dying.
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CNN recently reported that Trump is at a 44% approval rating. How is this possible? This man is stepping all over our democracy; yet his ratings are comparable to Obama’s. The Democrats need to unite, and they have a great deal of work to deal before I can feel optimistic.
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I LOVE the thought of some optimism. Everyday is more Trump nonsense. It becomes overwhelming. I DO hope the electorate wises up and chooses people who will work to help all Americans. That requires a lot of changes.
It takes more than cheap slogans to understand what all is involved in running the government. Trump rules by his ‘wonderful intuition’ which stinks. Quote from article: “The more effective approach with Trump is to use simple, short bullets, or a graphic or timeline”.
……………..
Trump’s ‘Briefing’ Book Is Filled with ‘Slogans’ Fit for a Child…Daily Kos
…Initially, White House aides came up with two workarounds, according to Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: leaking things to the press, where Trump might actually find it interesting; and coaxing one of his billionaire buddies to mention it to him.
And slowly but surely, they’ve improvised in order find one more potential way to reach Trump’s impenetrable mind: “The Book.” Axios has a write up on this “briefing” book, which appears to be the intellectual love child of a marketing pitch and a children’s storybook.
Here’s just a few of the revelations:
Separately, the press and communications staffs assemble clippings — often positive, to contrast the bad news he may be seeing on cable news.
‘“If he reads something in the press, like if he sees it on TV, that grabs his attention,” said a source close to the president.
*The packet can even include screen grabs of cable news chyrons.
*The president demands brevity, refusing to engage with briefers like his former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, who’d come in with a PowerPoint deck dozens of pages long, filled with text.
“He used complete sentences!” said one person who saw the briefings, and knows better about how Trump likes his information.
Trump got so exasperated with McMaster that he’d look at other papers on his desk while the national security adviser was talking — his view of an alpha male move to show that the general was failing to interest him.
*The more effective approach with Trump is to use simple, short bullets, or a graphic or timeline — anything demonstrative.
*The bullets are so pithy that one source said they’re “basically slogans.”
https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-briefing-book-filled-slogans-fit-child#.WxvwG3jIxOI.gmail
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“What is the Democrats’ leading cry? That the terrible Trump is truly terrible – and a tool of Russia. And, of course, the “terrible” part is all too terribly true –
But after you’ve bemoaned the terribleness of Trump for the ten thousandth time, are you ready to get serious about the systemic and richly bipartisan, oligarchic context within which Trump has emerged? “The Trump administration,” Chris Hedges reminded us on Truthdig two weeks ago, “did not rise… like Venus on a half shell from the sea. Donald Trump is the result of a long process of political, cultural and social decay.
The problem is not Trump,” writes Hedges. “It is a political system, dominated by corporate power and the mandarins of the two major political parties, in which we don’t count”
And if Trump is as much of a dangerous and authoritarian monster as liberal Democrats say he is (and he is), then why, pray tell, have most Democrats in Congress been willing to grant him record levels of military funding along with re-authorized and expanded warrantless surveillance and spying powers? Why are Tim Kaine and other top Democrats ready to grant him (and his successors) a freaking “Forever AUMF”? Hello? What does that say about the not-so leftmost of the two reigning corporate parties? The glaring schizophrenia (“Trump is a monster, let’s give him more war and spying powers!”) is yet more proof that the Democrats are indeed an inauthentic opposition, committed to the same imperial and police state Trump heads today. They are merely waiting to put one of their ruling-class own atop the same exact and in fact richly bipartisan structures.”
Optimism is a fine and useful sentiment as long as it built on solid analysis of the
problem at hand. So when it comes to illusions a group holds dear, we need to ask,
WHO benefits from these illusions, WHO suffers?
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Unfortunately, the corporate Democrats run the DNC which was almost broke after Obama. The Clintons raised tons of money for the DNC and Hillary’s campaign. The most democratic solution would be to give each candidate the same amount of money and limit the campaign time. Politicians spend as much time raising money as they do serving, and as we know, fund raising puts them in debt to special interest groups.
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I have always regarded Chris Hedges as prescient (& he’s always scared the hell out of me). He is brilliant…& correct. He warned us we were coming to this a long time ago. (Thank G-d we can still hear & see him {on RT}, &, most certainly, READ him.) I wholeheartedly agree w/Dienne’s questioning of the Democratic (or Demoncratic or DINOcratic or just plain Democrap) Party. All we, here, had to do was look at Obama’s more-than-lousy choice of an Ed. Sec.–his basketball buddy, the resulting, excrutiatingly painful (yes, agree w/Dienne, “literally dying”) Race to…Nowhere, leading to the absolute near-destruction of the American public schools. No, Obama didn’t go so far as to clam up the press (the msm did a good enough job themselves of not reporting {& still doesn’t report}) the stories that change America…for the worse (i.e., Standing Rock & fracking; Flint;
more about climate change {oh, because that Al Gore is such a bore!}), so that we who watch & listen can actually DO something before it’s too late.
“The revolution will not be televised.” Gil Scot-Heron
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What I fail to see is strength and fresh rhetoric from the democratic party and candidates who have a shot at the Presidency. The criticisms of Trump are easy, but he and his deep-pocket backers are masters of the con, slogan, and slur that grab headlines and suck the air from mindful attention to real issues. In addition, of course, the lesson from Obama’s administration is that the democrats are also easily bought and not on the same page for big policy issues, including support for public education, tests as essential to monitor schools for equity, higher education and so on.
At this point, I will campaign against Trump and his supporters, with a best guess on who is likely to topple the current demolition derby on everything, with the most dangerous the interferences and manipulation of votes and stream of declarations that Trump is above the law.
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In the NJ primary, I voted for the self proclaimed progressive candidate, Lisa McCormick, over Bob Menendez, mainly to send a message to establishment Democrats. However, in the general election, I will DEFINITELY vote for Menendez over the GOP pharmaceutical multi-millionaire. Even Lisa McCormick said she would vote for Menendez, albeit while holding her nose. Menendez will be running against Bob Hugin.
From wikipedia: Robert J. Hugin is an American businessman. He is the Executive Chair of Celgene Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company with operations in more than 50 countries. He is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in the 2018 election.
The purists will cluck their tongues, go tsk, tsk, and declare me a dupe and a phony for voting for any establishment Democrat. With Trump and the GOP in power, I have to vote for Bob M. to block Trump and the GOP in any small way I can.
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The only strategy in states like Missouri above and others is to ask: Do you want ANOTHER senator or representative who thinks he’s an employee of the president, who is scared to speak (like really meet with constituents), and definitely does not represent or care about you – just uses you?
Why? NO ONE CARES what he says or does.
The problem is simple: The president said… The president did… and no one cares. His base doesn’t care. His (fill in your own adjective) white boys in Congress don’t care. His rich white cronies and locker room buddies don’t care.
Hell (intentional, sorry), even the Evangelicals who will land there don’t care.
Russia? Who cares if he colluded or tampers with witnesses or dictated his little boy’s email? Russia helped him defeat Hillary – and no one remembers the Cold War or cares.
G7 relations? The president declared his relationship with leaders a 10. So, his boys believe it’s a 10.
White supremecists go 2 days without a reaction to marches and president declares there’s good on both sides; but the NFL players are anti-American, anti-soldier, anti-flag so they should be kicked out of the country. His boys could care less about NFL players.
People who do what Stormy Daniels does have no credibility according to him and Rudy. But he’s on tape with what he does to women and gets away with it because he’s a tv star.
His base could care less.
Optimistic? no way. And, not optimistic the Democrats won’t shoot themselves in the foot.
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Liberals need a deep and comprehensive strategy for bringing more Americans into their fold. I have little faith in the callow data-worshippers at the DNC –we need deeper thinkers –people who are black belts at mental karate.
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Democrats need to create their own Jesuits to combat the Trumpian heresy.
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How about Dems start with: “I will represent you; not be a yes (white) man doing president’s bidding even if it screws the people in our state”
Then, “I’ll protect you from government deregulating everything because to insure your food, water, air, and medicines are not tainted and eventually kill you”
Then “Yes, I DO agree with Mr. Obama – and Mr. Bush and Mr. Romney on many issues (except maybe education) because they believe every person in this country has value, will work hard, deserves health care, and should feel like they are contributinng.
Finally, Dems should say, I will be able to sleep at night because if any leader, gop or dem makes racist, sexists, inflamatory, lying, disrespectful of POWs, demeaning statements, I will call them out – –
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My suggestion is that the real energy available are the kids, and their parents and teachers. Where education is a political factor, democrats do well. In Missouri, we have a senator who is careful not to say too much about education, just trying to remain correct, and inoffensive. The legislature threw one of the best representatives out of the democrat caucus….a person who wins big, and had a great history as a board of education member……..the kind of guy they are not really interested in….He called into a right wing crazy radio stadion, and the host really is awful…..he was trying to reach people to help them understand why right to work is not a good thing. He used to be a field representative for McCaskill. She read what was being said about him, and demanded he resign. He said he has no intention of resigning. Bob Burns.
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good news.. love it! Thanks
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If we vote we can change the house and the Senate. But we don’t vote. We are literally tearing children away from terrorized parents fleeing for their lives and in California that many are looking to to flip to blue 20% voted. We recalled a Democrat who voted to raise gas taxes 12 cents to maintain roads but nothing about the close to $1.00 increase going Russian because of Trump’s trade policies. Madness.
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As I canvass, I find many who say, almost proudly, that they never vote. I believe a major cause of this is ignorance.
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I recently enjoyed an interview on NPR with one of our nation’s elected Muslim legislators who said (paraphrasing here) that the leaders of his community have begun to change their tune from “we don’t vote” to “we must vote.”
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That’s encouraging, though I recently met an American-born Afghan Muslim vet who ardently supports Trump. I find many immigrants of all nationalities like Trump. I think it’s partly that they never learned the democratic catechism as kids. (On the other hand, I recently met a newly naturalized immigrant from Mexico who was very well-versed in the Mexican Left’s catechism). Unfortunately, our anti-content K-8 curricula these days includes little to no democratic catechism either. This is a problem, don’t you think?
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